Canopy for an anchored boat

ABSTRACT

A canopy for a boat that is anchored on a dock. The canopy consists of a main support frame that is fixed with its lower ends on the dock. Both of the lower ends of the main support frame have hinge brackets attached thereto. There is a multiple of support rods hingedly attached to the hinge brackets. The support rods have a similar shape when compared to the main support frame. A weather resistant material is attached to the main support frame and is further draped over the support rods to form a canopy. There is a wind-up mechanism operated by an electric motor to collapse the canopy into a collapsed position when not in use.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

There are many boats anchored at boat slips at docks and board walks.They are mostly kept in place without any protection from the elements,that is, direct sun light, rain or high winds. It is desirable to havethe boats anchored under some protective cover.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In many areas there are stationary boat covers that are unsightlybecause they are built over the water where a boat is usually anchoredor tied to a dock. The stationary or rigid structure supports a roofmade out of wood or plastic material. The outboard supports have to bedriven into the water so that the roof can be supported thereby. Thesupports driven into the water have a short life span and are expensiveto erect, maintain or replace. In many location there are ordinancesissued by a city, county or the state that prohibit the erection ofstationary or rigid boat covers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The inventive boat cover consists of a canopy that can be deployed overthe boat while the boat is anchored or tied to a boat dock and can beopened or collapsed when the boat is not present at a location. Thecanopy is made of a flexible material that is supported by severalmovable supports that are hinged on the dock and can be deployed overthe boat and will completely cover or hide the boat when on anchor. Thecanopy is being deployed and retracted by an electric motor which can beremote controlled. It is also desirable to have a closure of the mainframe work to completely enclose the boat so that the boat can be usedfor enjoyment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the boat canopy in its deployed state;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a drive mechanism for the canopy;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the boat canopy as seen from a differentangle;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the canopy having a different shape.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the boat canopy when it is fullydeployed. The boat B is docked or anchored on a boat dock 2 which accessby way of the board walk 1. The boat dock and the board walk aresupported by supports or pilings 3 which are driven into the bottom ofthe water. The canopy can also be installed in an area where there arewalls such as break walls.

The only installation necessary or required is a frame work 4 whichdetermines the size of the canopy. The frame work can be constructed inan L-shape form to gain rigidity and to somewhat hide the canopy when itis collapsed including its support rods. The bottom of each leg isanchored to the top of the boat dock in a rigid manner.

The canopy 5 should be constructed of a supple but weather resistantmaterial. It could be made out of canvas having a weather resistantcoating thereon. The canopy 5 could be the same material that is used incovering swimming pools when not in use. In addition, the canopy couldbe an insect screening material.

The canopy 5 is supported by rigid rods 7 and 8 that are shaped in sucha manner to determine the final shape of the canopy. In FIG. 1 thesupport rods 7 and 8 take the shape of the support frame work 4, thatis, a rectangular shape. This shape is desirable because once the canopyis collapsed, the support rods including the canopy material will nestlewithin the frame work 4. The canopy 5 also has side panels 6 which willultimately determine the shape of the canopy when seen from either sideof the canopy. In FIG. 1, there are shown only two support rods 7 and 8but more support rods could be used dictated by the size of the finalcanopy. When the canopy 5 is deployed, it maintains its rectangularshape as seen from the dock side, but it unfolds into a dome-like shapewhen it is fully deployed to thereby embrace and cover the boat atanchor. It is also desirable to completely enclose the boat so that itcan be used for a personal enjoyment when anchored. To this end, themain support frame 4 could be closed by an insect screening material.This can be done by installing at least three movable screen panels 41,42 and 43 that are slidably suspended from an inside surface of the topbeam of the main support frame. The mechanism for slidably suspendingthe screen panels is well known as such panels are used with largepicture windows and, therefore, is not shown.

FIG. 2 illustrates the wind-up mechanism. The movable canopy is easilyretractable into a storage position when not in use by way of anelectric motor. To accomplish, this there is a driven shaft 15 mountedon the top of the frame work 4. The shaft 15 is supported along itslength by bearings 19. Each end of the shaft 15 is provided with wind-uppulleys 16 and 17 that will wind up the cable 18 when activated. Theshaft 15 is driven by an electric motor 20 by way of reduction gearmounted under the cover 21. The electric motor can be activated by aremote control similar to the well known garage door opener principle.It can now be seen that once the canopy 5 is to be activated to bewithdrawn, The electric motor, when energized, will drive the shaft 15and the wind-up pulleys 16 and 17 at each end of the shaft 15 will windup the cables 18 at each end of the canopy. The lowest positionedU-shaped frame 9 will be lifted first (FIG. 2), that is, turned aroundits central hinge with its inner ends. As the lower U-shaped frame ismoving upwardly, the next encountered support rod 8 will be movedupwardly until this support rod 8 encounters the next support rod 7 etc.until all of the support rods are stored within the main frame work 4.While the support rods are moving upwardly, the side panels 6 willcollapse into a shape similar to a fan shaped structure and thedome-shaped material will assume a folded shape and will be hanging fromthe collapsed support rods 7 and 8 or more.

FIG. 3 shows the boat canopy from a different angle. This angle is seenfrom the water side toward the dock area. The same reference charactershave been used as were shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. This Fig. clearly showsthe bottom U-shaped frame 9 which surrounds the boat B.

It is desirable to give this U-shaped frame some weight because it isthe lowest point of the canopy and it will ultimately determine theshape of the canopy when fully deployed. This added weight will enhancethe appearance of the deployed canopy because it will add a tighteningeffect to the fabric of the canopy.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the canopy having a different shape. Inthis view the side panels of FIGS. 1 and 2 are rounded off toward thecenter of the canopy. Of course, this shape is controlled by the shapeof the support of the support rods 33 which are rounded off to assume amore elliptical shape or part of a sphere. The main support frame 31also has the same shape as the support rods 33. The lower ends of thesupport rods 33 are hinged to a bracket 32 to be able to turn therearound when activated. In order to support the drive shaft outside ofthe rounded corners of the main support frame, extensions 34 have beenprovided to square off the driving mechanism relative to the curvedoutline of the main frame support 31. The driving mechanism is shownwith the same reference characters as were explained in FIGS. 1-3. Thisdome-shaped or oval canopy 30 can be used for smaller boats or boatswere the superstructure of the boat is rather low or shallow. Again thisFIG. 4 shows how the main support frame 31 can be closed with an insectscreening material. This is accomplished by simply suspending thescreening material 40 from the underside of the beam of the main framesupport by a roller and track system as is well known from curtainsuspension systems.

1. A canopy for a boat anchored at a dock including a main support framelocated on said dock, said main support frame is substantially in theshape of a U, said main frame having at each of its lower ends hingebrackets mounted thereon, a multiple of support rods being hingedlyconnected to each of said hinge brackets from one of said hinge bracketsto the other, said support rods have substantially the same shape assaid main support frame, a flexible material being attached to said mainsupport frame and is being draped over said support rods and beingconnected to a lower U-shaped frame, said canopy substantially coveringsaid boat when fully deployed.
 2. The canopy of claim 1 including sidepanels attached to edges of said flexible material draped over saidsupport rods.
 3. The canopy of claim 1 including means for collapsingsaid canopy into said main support frame.
 4. The canopy of claim 3wherein said means for collapsing is an electric motor.
 5. The canopy ofclaim 4, wherein said electric motor drives a shaft mounted at a top ofsaid main support frame, said shaft having at each end thereof a wind-uppulley, each of said wind-up pulleys has each a cable attached thereto,each of said cables being attached to said lower U-shaped support frame,whereby, when said electric motor is energized, each of said cables willbe wound-up on each of said wind-up pulleys to thereby lift saidU-shaped support frame and consequently all of said support rods.
 6. Thecanopy of claim
 1. wherein the corners of said U-shaped main supportframe and the corners of said support rods are rounded to form part ofan elliptical sphere shape of the canopy.
 7. The canopy of claim 1,wherein said flexible material is a water-proof fabric.
 8. The canopy ofclaim 1, wherein said flexible material is an insect screening fabric.9. The canopy of claim 1 including a movable closure covering theopening of said U-shaped main frame support.
 10. The canopy of claim 9,wherein said movable closure consists of at least three movable panels.11. The canopy of claim 9, wherein said movable closure consists of amovable curtain.
 12. The canopy of claim 9, wherein said movable closureis an Insect screening fabric.